WSEE
WSEE-TV, virtual channel 35 (UHF digital channel 21), is a dual CBS/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. The station is owned by Lilly Broadcasting, which also operates NBC affiliate WICU-TV (channel 12) under a shared services agreement (SSA) with owner SJL Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on State Street in downtown Erie; WSEE's transmitter is located on Peach Street in Greene Township, Pennsylvania. On cable, the station is available on Spectrum channel 5 and in high definition on digital channel 1005. WSEE's over-the-air digital broadcast signal covers Erie, Warren, and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania; reaches east to Jamestown, New York, west to Ashtabula, Ohio, north to London and Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, and south to Clarion, Pennsylvania. The station can also be seen via satellite in North America and the Caribbean through C band. It is available in Costa Rica through one of the country's major cable providers, Cabletica, and in Puerto Rico on all three cable companies serving the island as well as part of the locals package on Dish Network. It serves as the default CBS affiliate for Puerto Rico, which doesn't have a CBS station of its own. Until 2017, WSEE was simulcast in standard definition on WICU's third digital subchannel on VHF channel 12.3 from a separate transmitter in Greene Township; this was dropped on May 29, 2017 in favor of Ion. An upgraded multiplexer allowed the restoration of the WSEE simulcast to WICU on January 24, 2018, now on 12.4, in 720p high definition; it was dropped again in March 2019 in favor of Start TV. History WSEE began broadcasting on April 24, 1954. The station was originally owned by the Mead family, publishers of the Erie Times-News. ABC programming was shared by WSEE and WICU-TV until WJET-TV signed-on in 1966. The Meads sold the station to Gillett Broadcasting in 1978. In 1981, the "-TV" suffix was added to the WSEE calls. Gillett then sold the station to SCS Communications in 1982. In 1988, SCS sold WSEE to Price Communications. Price sold WSEE along with three of its stations (WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi, WZZM in Grand Rapids, Michigan and WNAC-TV in Providence, Rhode Island) to Northstar Television Group in 1989. UPN content was aired on weekends by WSEE-TV beginning January 16, 1995. Back in 2002, WICU-TV entered into a local marketing agreement with WSEE-TV. From that point until June 1, 2009, the station continued to operate from studios on Peach Street in Downtown Erie. On that date, WSEE-TV merged into WICU-TV's facilities on State Street. WSEE has been digital-only since February 17, 2009. WICU-TV and WSEE-TV merged their websites in June 2011. WSEE-DT2 WSEE-DT2 is the CW+-affiliated second digital subchannel of WSEE-TV, broadcasting in 720p high definition on UHF channel 21.2 (or virtual channel 35.2 via PSIP). History What would become WSEE-DT2 signed-on in September 1998 after WSEE-TV entered into a partnership with The WB 100+, a national programming service operated by The WB for television markets ranked below 100, and Time Warner Cable. At the time, it was a cable-exclusive station, and as a result, used the call sign "WBEP" (standing for "The WB Erie, Pennsylvania") in a fictional manner for identification purposes. WSEE-TV provided local advertisement and promotional duties for the outlet based at the CBS affiliate's original facilities on Peach Street/U.S. 19 in Downtown Erie. From January 11, 1995 until 1998, when "WBEP" signed on, The WB programming was only available in the Erie, Pennsylvania market via Chicago-based WGN-TV's national Superstation feed, or via off-market stations, such as WBPA-LP (now WPCW) in Pittsburgh. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Television announced that they would shut down their UPN and The WB networks and combine their resources by creating a new programming service called The CW Television Network. The letters would represent the first initial of the names of the new network's respective corporate parents. On September 18 of that year, The CW officially launched nationwide at which point WSEE-TV added a new second digital subchannel to simulcast "WBEP" allowing non-cable subscribers access to the new network. From its launch on January 16, 1995 until The CW signed-on, WSEE-TV carried the network through a secondary arrangement and aired some of the network's programming on weekends. With the launch of WSEE-DT2, "WBEP" began official use of the former call sign and became part of The CW Plus, a successor to The WB 100+. WICU-TV dropped its simulcast of WSEE-DT2 in favor of MeTV in September 2016. Category:CBS affiliated stations Category:The CW Affiliates Category:1954 Category:Erie Category:Pennsylvania Category:Television channels and stations established in 1954 Category:Channel 35 Category:Lilly Broadcasting Category:Former ABC affiliates Category:Former UPN affiliates Category:UHF Category:CBS Pennsylvania Category:The CW Pennsylvania Category:MyNetworkTV Affiliates Category:Former NTA Film Network affiliates Category:MyNetworkTV Pennsylvania Category:The CW New York Category:Television stations in New York Category:MyNetworkTV New York Category:CBS New York Category:New York Category:Sinclair Broadcast Group